There is many different varieties of tomatoes. Each variety of tomato have different uses for eating the tomatoes, and each variety has different needs for how to grow those tomato plants. The type of tomato that you choose to use in your meals can be based off whether you want to eat the tomatoes raw or whether you want to cook the tomatoes into an sauce.
The chart that is provided to you will allow you to choose the correct type of tomato varieties for your needs. Tomato varieties can be categorized into different family. Slicing tomatoes are often quite large and meaty, and are used to make thick slices of tomatoes for sandwiches or burgers.
Tomato Types and How to Use and Grow Them
Paste tomatoes are often denser with less water than the slicing tomatoes, and people use them to make thick sauces that do not break down into a soup when boiled. Cherry tomatoes are small and sweet tasting, and is often eaten as a raw snack. Heirloom tomatoes are varieties that have been passed down from generation to generation, and often contain complex yet sweet flavors.
Cocktail tomatoes are of the middle size with the sweetness and juiciness of cherry and slicing tomatoes, respectively; they are often used in raw salad. The flavor of the tomato is determined by the balance between the sweetness and acidity of the tomato. Tomatoes that are very sweet are often best eaten raw.
Tomatoes that contain high levels of acidity are best used in cooked dish like stews or sauces. Tomatoes that contain too much sugar will often taste flat when cooked. Tomatoes that contain too much acidity will often taste too sharply when eaten raw.
For example, cherry tomatoes contain high levels of sweetness and low acidity, so you can best eat them raw by the handful. Beefsteak tomatoes have a more moderate sweetness and acidity, which makes them best for slicing. Heirloom tomatoes like the Brandywine variety are extremely sweet, while Roma (a paste tomato) tomatoes have high acidity, which makes it ideal for simmering sauces for long period.
If you are growing your own tomatoes, the days to maturity for the different varieties will help to determine how long you have to wait until you can harvest your tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes take the least amount of time to mature, at less than two month. Beefsteak and heirloom tomatoes take longer to mature, so they require more patience from the grower.
If you decide to plant tomatoes, it is recommended to bury the stem in the ground to two-thirds of the way in. Placing the stem into the ground allows for the roots of the tomato plant to grow to help provide more resistance to dry weather. Additionally, you should prune the suckers that form on the vining tomato plants to allow the plant to devote its energy towards the growth of tomatoes rather than leaves.
Watering the tomato plants with one inch of water per week will prevent the tomatoes from cracking or rotting. Tomatoes may be stored in different ways to extend their freshness. When storing tomatoes, you should consider the type of tomato that you have.
Ripe tomatoes should be stored at room temperature; storing the tomatoes stem side down on the counter will help to retain the moisture within the tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes will remain fresh for about five days, while heirloom tomatoes can remain fresh for up to seven days at room temperature. To extend the life of tomatoes, you can place them in the refrigerator; however, the tomato should only be placed in the refrigerator once it is fully ripe.
Additionally, if you would like to store cut tomatoes, place them in an airtight container; they should be consumed within a couple of days. Tomatoes can be canned; however, the type of tomato that you use should have low meatiness and high acidity. Paste tomatoes, such as Roma and San Marzano tomatoes are often used in canned products because of the firm flesh and few seed within the varieties.
If you would like to can heirloom tomatoes that are sweet in flavor, you will need to add extra acid to the tomatoes or use a pressure canner to meet USDA standards. Tomato seeds can be saved from some tomato varieties. Only open-pollinated heirloom varieties should have their seeds saved.
Examples of heirloom tomatoes like Black Krim will contain the same traits in their seedlings as the original plant, but hybrid tomato seeds will not contain the same genetic information. To save tomato seeds, scoop all of the seeds and the gel surrounding the seeds into a jar. Allow the jar to sit for a few days to allow the seeds to ferment and kill any molds within the tomatoes.
Once the seeds have fermented, rinse the seeds and allow them to dry on a flat surface. There is no single best variety of tomatoes. Instead, the best type of tomato depends upon the use that you would like to make of the tomatoes.
For raw use and sweet flavor, grow Brandywine or Yellow Pear tomato varieties. If you would like to use the tomatoes in sauces, use San Marzano tomatoes. If you have limited space to grow your tomatoes, cherry tomato varieties will provide the highest volume of tomatoes in the smallest space.
However, if you choose to grow large fruit like heirloom tomatoes, you will have to sacrifice some of the benefits of the plant; they take longer to mature than other varieties and are more likely to crack when exposed to weather extremes.